Igor Shpilband

Are the allegations true?

I have heard on some other boards, that he supposedly uses violence if a student doesn't do what he wants. I have heard that he pulled a girl student's long braid because she didn't do what he wanted. It has also been said that he locked a male student in the locker because he didn't obey him either.

Although this hasn't come from the horse's mouth, he wants Tanith Belbin to keep her hair blonde all year round though she wanted it back to it's natural dark brown color. I also hear he pressures his female students into being super-thin.

In an interview a season or so ago, Tanith mentioned that she had died her hair back to it's natural brown over the summer, but that Igor preferred it blonde, as it would contrast better with Ben. I find it odd that a coach would tell a skater what to do with their hair, but she didn't seem to mind. The violence seems to be a stretch. I doubt that his top skaters would put up with it.

Some of it might be due to cultural differences. In America, we're much more sensitive with regards to 'punishing' students. Teachers here are no longer allowed to touch students - when I was a child, it was ok for the principal to use a paddle when someone misbehaved. In other countries, this type of discipline is still ok.

Don't know if the rumors are true or not, but it's up to the student and his/her parents to determine what is acceptable as long as the student is not put in grave danger.

I know there was some heated discussion on FSU and the thread wound up being pulled b/c I imagine certain allegations were made that made the board wary of a lawsuit.

It's unfortunate that things like this can't be discussed in an open forum. It allows these incidents and behavior to be covered up. Unfortunately ice dance is a sport that is especially conducive toward abuse (IN MY OPINION). You have a shortage of appropriate male partners and oftentimes the girl's family winds up paying the coaching fees and living costs for the male partner. You have a coach like Shpilband (sp) who has a number of teams under him and students training with him and he has the ability to create and split teams at will (like he did when he split up a married team to pair up Stiegler with Magerovsky). I think that a girl in that situation would be especially vulnerable when you consider that girls are a dime a dozen in ice dance. If the girl doesn't do what the coach says, he can split the partnership and all she will have left are lost dreams and mountain of debt (or guilt that the parents spent so much). So if the coach is an a$$ who pressures her to be thin and perhaps is violent, she might say nothing because she's out of a partnership and would effectively end her career.

How bad can he be? It seems to me by reading these posts that he has a keen interest in his students and wants what he sees as the best for them.

Joe

I don't know if you saw it on FSU, but a poster who seems to have trained under him or known people who trained under him (at least this was insinuated by the poster's posts) basically recounted tales of abusive behavior (both physical and mental) directed by this coach toward his various students. I'm not going to repeat exactly what was posted b/c I think that was why the thread was closed but it wasn't pretty (ugly in the Bela Karolyi way).

Yes, but if a student can't take his style, the student should be able to leave. this sort of thing goes in all the arts. Tough directors like Jerome Robbins, George Ballanchine, and how many stories have you heard from LaLaLand?

Yes, but if a student can't take his style, the student should be able to leave. this sort of thing goes in all the arts. Tough directors like Jerome Robbins, George Ballanchine, and how many stories have you heard from LaLaLand?

Joe

That's very true... however look how many ballet companies there are verses ice dance teams at Nationals (or even competitive ice dance teams overall). With no partner, a girl can't compete at all (unless she miraculously got the ability to do triples).

You have a coach like Shpilband (sp) who has a number of teams under him and students training with him and he has the ability to create and split teams at will (like he did when he split up a married team to pair up Stiegler with Magerovsky).

While I don't argue that Shpilband doesn't have the power to break up teams, Magerovsky and his wife were having difficulty raising the funds to continue training. They had a web page that listed the costs of training for per year and were seeking donations. They may have split because they couldn't raise the funds, and it is very possible that Stiegler's parents are subsidizing him, so that he and his wife could afford to live and at least one of them could continue to skate.

There are some skaters who may not be doing well at school or who are not interested in school at all, feel making it in skating is their only way for the future. And these people and their parents will tolerate anything their coaches do to them.

So does anyone believe Igor's supposed abuse of his students? I don't wanna get me or this board into any trouble but I did read the heated discussion from FSU. I was wondering if he actually read the forum? Sure it is wrong to physically and mentally abuse students. But you have to admit he is one of the hottest, sexiest coaches I have ever seen.